I stood without moving. I knew if I took the paper, I was accepting her deal, her blackmail. But if I didn’t, I didn’t doubt for a second Lisbeth would have my grandmother killed. She was an evil woman.
My heart gave a thump. I was fuming inside. Reluctantly, I reached out and snatched the paper from her hand, hoping I’d given her a paper cut.
Lisbeth straightened, her face rising to give me a smile utterly lacking in warmth. “This is the name I need you to... take care of. You understand?”
“I’m not deaf,” I said tightly.
Lisbeth made a sound of approval in her throat and lowered herself down the porch steps, one at a time. I was not going to help her down. “And Rowyn,” said the old woman as she reached the bottom and turned around. “This stays between us.”
“Go to hell.” I took a slow breath, fingers trembling as I held on to the piece of paper. A cold sweat trickled down my back.
“I’ll have money transferred to your bank account,” said Lisbeth and then she shuffled down the walkway towards the waiting SUV.
I glared at her, repulsed. How the hell does she know my bank account number? “I don’t want your damn money. Not a single penny of your blood money.”
Lisbeth stopped, turned her head, and watched me for a moment. “Have it your way, then. Just do your job. I don’t want to think of the alternative to you failing. You catch my meaning?”
“Like I have a choice,” I growled. I was really, really screwed.
Lisbeth made a pleased sound in her throat. “Then we are agreed.” She hesitated for a second. “And Rowyn,” she said, her voice loud in the quiet street. “If you think of getting out of this contract by attempting to kill me... well... let me just say that you’ll be short another family member.” Her face twisted into an attempt at a believable smile but failed. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Screw you,” I said, loud and clear, as I watched the driver hold Lisbeth by the hand as she hooked her cane on her left arm and struggled into the back seat with much effort.
Lisbeth leaned her head out of the SUV. “Oh, and, Rowyn. Try not to get caught.”
The driver carefully shut the door with both hands.
A rush pounded through my body as I watched the driver get into the front seat and then pull away from the curb. Panic iced through me, but I couldn’t move. I stood paralyzed and running out of air. My eyes followed the SUV as it made a left turn at the end of Maple Drive and drove down Park Street.
I kept watching until they were gone.
Then, with my stomach in a giant knot, I unfolded the paper with trembling fingers, my heart thudding in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. This was so wrong, all kinds of wrong. But what choice did I have?
I stared, horror hitting me as I read the name on the paper: STEVEN PRICE.
Damn. I had to kill the head of the New York City werewolf court.
3
I sat on my couch, staring down at the piece of crumbled paper without blinking until my eyes burned and the letters blurred to the point I couldn’t make out the name anymore.
STEVEN PRICE. Good God. This was so messed up.
I’d barely slept in my bed last night. I kept waking up in sweats, my heart pounding in my chest as I kept replaying the conversation I’d had with the old angel-born and the name on that dreaded piece of paper. I’d woken up this morning with a pounding migraine, feeling like I had a massive hangover but without the fun of the actual drinking part.
Following Lisbeth’s departure, I’d spent the rest of the day with my grandmother, apologizing for my rude behavior. Tyrius and I had left her with Kora later in the night, soon after she started singing her show tunes and then collapsed into bed with a smile on her face.
“Are you going to go through with it?” asked Tyrius as he sat next to me on my couch, his voice tight with worry. I could feel his blue eyes on me, but I wouldn’t look at him.
“You mean... am I going to kill the head of the New York City werewolf court, who happens to be a really nice guy?” God I hated myself right now. But I hated Lisbeth way more.
“Yeah, that.” Tyrius shuffled closer to me until I felt the heat of his body on my thigh.
“I don’t know.” It was the truth. I was trapped by what I cared about, and Lisbeth knew it. Could I really kill an innocent to save a life? Did I have that in me? And if I did, would that make me evil? A monster?
I was torn. Emotions pulled me every which way until I felt like my limbs were stretching paper thin. Part of me wanted to do it, but then the other part felt disgusted that I’d actually had those thoughts. Was I evil? Was this my dark, demon side taking over?
Even if I decided to go through with this, killing a head werewolf wasn’t going to be easy. A pack leader became a leader, not only because of his leadership skills, but because he was the most dominant, ferocious, and powerful of their pack. He was their alpha.
And somehow I had to kill him. Great.
Worse, he’d be surrounded by his pack twenty-four hours a day—a pack of large, ferocious werewolves blessed with super-strength. I might be immune to the werewolf virus, but I wasn’t immortal. A pack of weres could very easily tear me up into tiny ribbons of flesh and eat me.
My head pounded and I felt a pang of nausea. I was a Hunter. I hunted evil baddies to keep the world safe. But this wasn’t Hunting. This was murder, plain and simple.
There was no point in denying it to myself anymore. The fact was, if I killed the werewolf, I’d be a murderer. And I would have to carry that with me for the rest of my life.
And it would never stop.
I knew once I went through with her first designated name and killed the werewolf, it would never stop. It would be Open Season for Lisbeth. The names would keep on coming, and on and on it would go until I’d lost myself completely and become something dark, until I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.
A chill licked up my spine at the thought. But if I didn’t kill the werewolf, my grandmother would die. I didn’t know how Lisbeth would do it, and I felt ill just thinking about it.
A hot rage was building in the pit of my stomach. It had started yesterday and kept growing, like a festering wound, poisoning me.
“This whole thing sucks demon balls,” grunted Tyrius.
I gave a sour laugh. “Worse than that.” God help me, this was the worst kind of decision to make. I was in hell.
“We lose either way,” said the cat. “If you kill the werewolf, you’ll hate yourself forever. You’ll become an enemy to all half-breeds—that’s if they see you. Better that they don’t. But Granny lives.” Tyrius sighed loudly. “But if you don’t kill him... then...”
A cold sliver of dread slid through me. I sighed, my grip tightening on the piece of paper. “I don’t want to have to think about that.” But Tyrius was right. I was screwed either way. No matter what I chose, I would lose.
“You can stare at the piece of paper all day if you want,” said the Siamese cat. “But it won’t change what it says.”
I crumbled up the paper and threw it across the room. “Damn her,” I shouted, my voice harsh. “Damn that old cow.” I was shaking with rage. Betrayal bubbled up, making my stomach clench.
Tyrius hissed. “She’s got us by the balls, literally.”
I took a breath and let it go. “I hate to admit it, but she does.” My sense of deceit rose higher, cementing my anger and hatred for the old woman.
Tyrius shifted his weight. “There is another way.”
I looked down at him. “Like what?” I growled as a surge of pure rage rose up from my spine and made my voice rough.
The cat’s brows lifted in encouragement. “You could kill the old fraud.”
“If only it were that easy,” I laughed dryly, having already thought about it all night. “She already knew I’d try to do her in. She’s not stupid. Someone with her level of power never is.”
“No,” said the cat. “Just dumbass crazy with loose morals and
questionable hygiene.”
I laughed, feeling it help to defuse some of my tension. “Even so, I’m sure she’s expecting me to try. Hell, I even think she wants me to try and kill her.”
“So, let’s do it,” encouraged the cat. “You get rid of Lisbeth, and you get rid of her threat. Then we can all go back to our lives.” I knew Tyrius was anxious to get back to his wife. I didn’t blame him. He’d had seven really good months with her so far, apart from a few questionable scratches. I’d never seen him so happy.
“I can’t.” I shook my head. “I can’t risk going after Lisbeth and screwing up. If she finds out I tried to come after her, she’ll hurt Gran. Not kill her, because if gran dies, so does her hold on me.” I let out a breath as I thought of the different ways Lisbeth’s thugs would hurt my grandmother. “No. She won’t kill her, but she’ll hurt her. As a warning to me. She’ll make her suffer, slowly, to get me on track again. I can’t let that happen.” Face cold, I turned to Tyrius with my stomach in knots. “God, I’m so screwed, Tyrius. Just when I thought I’d finally gotten my life together, it all goes to hell.”
“It always does,” said the cat, his voice heavy with dread. “That old bat can suck my toes and die.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “I wish.”
“If Jeeves was still around,” said Tyrius, “maybe we could’ve rubbed his stupid head and he could’ve made that happen.”
I frowned, my tension rising at the thought of the jinni and how he’d tried to seduce me wearing Jax’s body like a meat suit. “Don’t get me started on that creep.”
Tyrius chuckled. “Good times. Good times.” He pulled his lips back in a smile, his sharp teeth gleaming in the light. “So what’s the plan?” inquired the cat. “How do we do it? We can’t just waltz into the Big Bad Wolf’s compound either. There must be hundreds of wolves around him all the time. We need to figure out a way to get him away from his facility and alone. We need to find out his routine. Where he goes, who he sees. Any ideas?”
“It’s not like I have his schedule.” I swallowed, my stomach queasy, even though I knew Tyrius was right. The only way to get close enough to Steven was when he was away from his compound.
“We’ll hit Mystic Quarter tonight and ask around,” informed the cat. “Let’s just hope the wolves don’t get too suspicious. ‘Cause that would be bad.”
Part of me didn’t want to get Tyrius involved. I didn’t want him to carry the guilt and heavy burden of aiding me as I took the life of an innocent. I didn’t want him to live with that. But I knew he’d make a fuss if I tried to ditch him. Besides, I was probably going to need backup.
“Tyrius,” I said, feeling a twinge of guilt and shame. “You know you don’t have to—”
“Don’t even go there, woman,” said the Siamese cat, his eyes wide and whiskers bristling. “You’re not doing this alone. And that’s final.”
“If I do this...” I hesitated, my mouth dry as a sick feeling slipped between my thoughts and reason. “I can never go back. Ever. And if you help me... God. I’m such an asshole. I can’t ask you to do this, Tyrius. I can’t.”
The Siamese cat jumped in my lap and got right in my face. “You’re not asking. You’re not my master, or have you forgotten that I’m not your familiar. I’m my own demon and I make my own decisions, thank you,” he said looking adamant. He moved back slightly and sat. “I’m your partner. And partners stick together. Besides,” said the cat, his voice low. “I care about Granny just as much as you do. Her well-being concerns me. Lisbeth threatened her life. She might as well have been threatening my own. This is our fight, Rowyn. Me and you. I want to kick that old bony ass just as much as you do.”
I looked away from the cat’s intense stare. “I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. I can’t believe I just said it out loud.”
“Rowyn, I know what you’re thinking,” said Tyrius, his tone heavy as I looked back at him. “You’re not a bad person. Lisbeth is. She’s blackmailing you. Remember? She’s the evil bitch with a twisted mind. You would never do this if you had a choice. But you don’t. We’ll just have to make sure we don’t get caught. That’s all.”
Bile rose in the back of my throat. “If we get caught.” I swallowed hard and tried again. “I’ll never work as a Hunter again in this city. I’ll have to move again.”
“I hear Canada has a great health plan,” said the cat, and I could hear the smile in his tone.
“I don’t think Lisbeth would like it if we moved,” I said and gave the cat a worried look. “I can’t finish off her list of names if I’m out of the country.” Though Canada sounded pretty good to me right now.
“Does this mean you’ve made up your mind?” Tyrius prompted.
Damn. I was an asshole. “Yeah. I guess I have,” I answered, surprising myself. And my soul was going straight to the Netherworld.
Tyrius shifted on my lap. “So, we start tonight.”
I took a slow breath and then another. “Unless you have plans—”
There was a knock at my apartment door. And then another, much harder.
In a flash of fur, Tyrius leaped off my lap. I jumped to my feet and yanked out my soul blade. “Guess we’re about to find out.”
I walked over to the door wondering who’d be visiting me at seven in the morning. Aiming my blade at the door with my right hand, I reached out with my left and yanked it open.
Father Thomas stood on my doorstep. It was hard not to stare or even keep my face from smiling at the sight of him. No matter how many times I’d seen the priest, and that was often since I lived upstairs from him, I was always struck by how handsome he was. A hot priest. A very hot priest.
He wore his usual dark ensemble of black slacks and black shirt with a white clerical collar, but it did nothing to hide the fit athletic physique I could still spy through the fabric. I don’t think I’d ever seen him in anything else, which only increased my curiosity as I wondered what he’d look like without them...
But my impure thoughts died away at the sight of distress that spread across his face and into his dark, almost black eyes.
Panic hit me hard as I lowered my blade, half forgetting that it had been pointed at his face this whole time. “What is it? Is it my grandmother?”
Father Thomas lifted his hand at my outburst. “No, no. It’s not your grandmother.” He looked taken aback at my sudden distress. His strong, handsome features shifted to a frown. “Why? Has something happened? What are you not telling me?”
I let out a breath as Tyrius appeared beside me at the doorstep. “It’s nothing. I’m just overly concerned lately.” I searched his face, not liking what I saw. “But you look like you have something to say.”
“What’s going on, Padre?” inquired Tyrius, his ears perked and his tail up.
The priest looked down at the cat and then back up at me. “I just got off the phone with Detective Walsh,” said the priest. “There’s been another murder.”
4
My boots clacked loudly on the sidewalk as I strode north up 3rd Avenue in Manhattan’s East Village. The morning sun was warm and high in the sky, a nice contrast to the cool wind. The loud whooshes and honks of cars made a comforting background to the loud pounding in my ears.
I’d swallowed some cereal and coffee before heading out the door a few minutes after Father Thomas left. Detective Walsh had specially asked for me, though I don’t know why he called the priest since I’d given him my phone number. Either he didn’t want to admit he needed my help, or he didn’t want any record of calling me. Going through the priest would somehow make it more acceptable. None of that hocus pocus. Figures.
And now there was another murder.
From what Father Thomas told me, the detective suspected it had the same MO as the victim in Central Park. More specifically the same letters were carved into the victim, which explained why I was heading that way now and not brainstorming with Tyrius on ways to kill an innocent werewolf.
“Why ar
e you walking so damn fast? It’s almost as if you’ve got a pixie demon up your butt,” said Tyrius sarcastically. “Do you know how hard it is to hang on here without my claws cutting into you? Try impossible. Slow down!” He hissed as I waited for traffic to clear before crossing the next street. He adjusted himself around my shoulders again, trying to find a comfortable position. “I don’t know why you feel the need to rush,” mewed the cat. “It’s not like the body’s going anywhere.”
“I want to get there before the police move the body,” I said, my long legs moving with purpose. “If this is the same killer, we have a serial demon on our hands.” I stifled a shiver. “Mind you, by the time we get there, it’ll probably be contaminated with human residual DNA, but I’m sure your baal nose can find something.”
Tyrius grumbled his reply and I smiled.
He’d pitched a tantrum after Father Thomas left, thinking I was going out to the crime scene without him and not knowing I’d already decided to bring him along. Baals had a keener sense of smell than any half-breed or demon I knew of and could read demon energies better than most—even the ones long, long gone.
“You think the old bat is having a fit because you’re not doing her dirty work right now?” asked Tyrius, his hot breath tickling my neck.
I shrugged. “She never gave me a deadline. And this is a paying gig. I need to eat.”
“Very true.” The cat snuggled closer, his cold nose resting against my skin.
My pace slowed as I reached the church but my pulse increased. Saint Mary’s Church was small by city standards. The red stone of the tower caught the early morning sun as we made for it, the steeple rising far above the trees. The gray stone steps were bent in the middle from decades of use, and twin oak doors were framed by lovingly tended rose vines. At first glance it looked like a typical church, apart from the parked police cars and the yellow tape blocking the entrance.
A policeman was doubled over just off the front steps of the church, puking his guts out in some yew bushes.
Dark Gift Page 3
